Normandy '44 June 13th AAR

Caen is 3/4 in the Allies' hands.  I don't think it will last (actually it doesn't, June 14th is under way and...oh we'll save that for the next update.)

Anyway, battle this turn was brutal for the attackers.  Two A1/DRs (Attacker lose a step and Defender retreat) and a couple EX (Exchanges).  And on both DRs, the defender Determined Defensed and caused the attackers to lose another step (AL result.)  It was crazy and somewhat demoralizing...and I'm playing both sides.

Carentan is a mess - the allies are racking up the Cadre units here. (if the Germans can accumulate up to 7 US or 5 CW dead 3-step units, auto victory.  US has two dead and 5 out there.  CW have 3 dead and 2-3 out there.  Must reinforce them.



I would call this a "poor man's mini monster".  It's a one mapper and there aren't tons of counters.  And the rules are fairly short.  What makes it a monster is the amount of exceptions, the number of turns, and the amount of decisions and forward thinking that is necessary. I'm not saying all these items mean something is a monster, it's just a big game to me.

And it's still taking me 1.5 hours a turn and I'm not sure why.  I should be cranking through them in 30-40 minutes.  One reason is that I'm always having to remind myself of the rules for the following:

Disrupted effects
Replacement effects
Regroup effects
When is the armor shift available and when not (not in cities - doh)
IP effects
Strongpoint effects (no armor shift there either I don't believe)
Mechanized get 1/3 movement on primary roads in overcast days (not just 1/2 as in clear days)
Where are reinforcements able to come on
Can't figure out the use of Reserves - and this is after reading the designer notes.  So I mean how to use it effectively, not how to use them rule-wise. Rules are clear enough.
and on

The good thing - I feel all is explained in the rulebook well and you can find it.  It's just a lot of flipping.  Another good thing: not a lot of markers.  It's a small pile and they're not used all that often.

Anyway, I shall plug away.